Harry Potter and the Glass Staircase
by Rinati
Summary: As Harry enters his sixth year, weird things occur, involving a magical ring a new girl, and something to do with people disappearing into the lake. Can Harry and his friends ave Hogwarts from Voldemort's terrible plan?


Chapter one: "Hoo! Hoo!" Harry Potter, a teenage wizard was awakened on his third day of summer vacation by his owl, Hedwig. "Good morning", he said groggily, rubbing his eyes and then looking at his watch. "It's 6:00!" He exclaimed, before even looking at his owl. "Why did you wake me up so early?" He then got out of bed, put on his glasses and looked around his bedroom. In her cage sat Hedwig and on top of her cage was an owl that Harry recognized to be a school owl.  
  
Harry Potter had just completed his fifth year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. He had left the school, mourning for Sirius Black, his godfather who had been killed on behalf of Voldemort, the dark wizard who had killed Harry's parents when he was one. Harry walked over to the cage and took the letter from the school owl. Immediately the owl swooped out of the room. Harry opened the letter. It read:  
  
Dear Mr. Potter, Given that our Quiddich captain has finished her last year at Hogwarts, you have been chosen to be Quiddich captain in her place. This is certainly a great honor. Try-outs will be held on the second week of term to observe who shall play as chasers and beaters as the students from last year were chosen under Professor Umbridge's command. Please respond as soon as possible. Enjoy your summer.  
Professor M. McGonagall  
  
Harry was ecstatic. He just couldn't control his happiness. He was going to be Quiddich Captain! He was dreaming for this since he had started playing Quiddich. He quickly grabbed a piece of parchment and wrote that he would be glad to be captain. Then he got dressed, promised himself that he would write to Ron and Hermione later, and went down to the kitchen for breakfast with the Dursleys.  
  
Harry had lived with the Dursleys, (his only remaining family members), since his parents died. Till he was eleven he had no clue that he was a wizard, but he found this out with a great sort of adventure (consult book- one for details). This year, right after arriving from school, some of his friends had threatened Uncle Vernon that if he didn't treat Harry properly, he would be in 'trouble'. So, since Harry had come, Uncle Vernon, Aunt Petunia and Dudley, their spoiled son, weren't mean to him. But that doesn't mean they were nice to him; they just completely ignored him. Harry found this sort of depressing and boring, but it was better than torture, right?  
  
As Harry was going into the kitchen he heard Uncle Vernon speaking to Aunt Petunia. ". MUST do something about the ruddy boy. One thing we do wrong and-"  
  
"Good morning" said Harry as he walked through the door, and immediately they stopped talking. Then his uncle went back to his paper and his aunt went to make breakfast. Harry sat down at the table, thinking about what he could do on this probably another boring day ahead of him. Aunt Petunia slammed down the plate of egg in front of him without a word, and he started eating, trying to think how he would word the letters to Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, his best friends about the great Quiddich news.  
  
It was right when Harry was drinking his orange juice, remembering the Hogwarts pumpkin juice, that the window suddenly opened and in zoomed something, flying at the speed of light. All heads turned to look. The thing, which turned out to be a jet-black owl, with piercing red eyes swooped down over Harry and dropped a - no it couldn't be! - It was a Howler!!! Harry looked at the scarlet envelope, which was beginning to burn at the edges, wondering if he should open it now and decided that he should open it before it explodes.  
  
While opening the envelope, Harry looked at the Dursleys. Uncle Vernon was tuning from white, to green, to blue, to red; Aunt Petunia had a startled look on her face but she already new what it was, since she had gotten one last year; Dudley, on the other hand, had one hand holding his chair and the other holding on to Petunia. Harry finally managed to open the envelope and immediately the letter turned into the form of shark-like teeth and then-  
  
"POTTER!!!" The voice was so scary, so threatening the Harry heard Uncle Vernon accidentally rip his paper in fright, Aunt Petunia give a small scream, and the muffled sounds of Dudley, who was trying to hide under the table. Harry recognized the non-yelling but very threatening voice to be that of Harry's archenemy, Draco Malfoy. "POTTER!!!" said the menacing voice again. "HOW DARE YOU PUT MY FATHER IN PRISON!! YOU HAVE PLACED SHAME UPON THE MALFOY FAMILY!! FOR THAT YOU DESERVE TO BE PUNISHED!! BY THE TIME I'M DONE WITH YOU, YOU'LL WISH YOU WERE NEVER BORN TO THAT MUDBLOOD MOTHER OF YOURS!!!" Harry expected the letter to rip itself to pieces, but it didn't, so Harry decided to keep it to show Ron and Hermione. There were a few seconds of silence and then Vernon, who was very red in the face, yelled "WHAT WAS THAT?!?!"  
  
"Oh, that was just my archenemy Draco Malfoy." said Harry, who preferred to ignore the whole story. "I put his father's name in the news for being in league with Voldemort." Petunia saw that Harry wasn't scared and asked, "Aren't y-you afraid of him?" "Na" answered Harry, "He's always threatening me and brings out the 'punishments' only half the time." All the Dursleys were looking at him as if he were really weird and then Harry got up from the table and went up to his room. In his room he quickly got two pieces of parchment and started writing a letter to Ron on one of them.  
  
Dear Ron, Hi, what's up? Are you doing anything for the holidays? It's very boring by me and I wish I could see you and Hermione. The Dursleys are treating me fine and they're just ignoring me. Guess what, this morning I got a letter from McGonagall that I was chosen for Quiddich Captain. Isn't that great? You're still keeper, you know? You know what else? At breakfast, I got a howler from Malfoy. He was threatening me about punishing me because I put down his father's name and all the Dursleys were at the table. You should have seen Dudley. He was hiding under the table. It was hilarious. I can't wait to hear from you. By the way, is there any news about Voldemort?  
Harry On the next one he wrote a letter to Hermione that was nearly the same.  
  
Dear Hermione, Hi, what's up? What are you doing for the holidays? I'm very bored here and I wish I could see you and Ron. The Dursleys aren't mean to me- they just ignore me. Guess what, this morning I got a letter from McGon Professor McGonagall that I was chosen as Quiddich Captain. I'm so happy. Do you want to try out for something? You know what else? At breakfast I got a howler from Malfoy. He was threatening me about punishing me because I put his father's name down, and all the Dusleys were at the table. You should have seen Dudley trying to get under the table. It was pretty amusing. I can't wait to hear from you. P.S. Did you finish your homework? I kind of need help on it.  
Harry  
  
He got up from his desk and went over to Hedwig. He fed her half a piece of left over Cauldron Cake that he had from his way back and said, "These are for Ron and Hermione, alright?" He tied the letters to her leg, and she flew out the window with a "Hoo!" Then Harry sat down to think, for he had nothing else interesting to do except for bullying Dudley, but he wasn't in the mood. He thought about Hogwarts, about being Quiddich Captain, about Malfoy's howler, and about Ron and Hermione. It's so boring here without them, he thought. I wish I could see them.... But I go to Ron's house every year, and anyways, I don't want them feeling sorry for me about Sirius.... Maybe they both can come here.No, Uncle Vernon will never let.but maybe he will...  
  
And with that, he ran out of his room, and went to the living room, where Uncle Vernon was watching the news. Harry couldn't help but disturb him. "Er... Uncle Vernon, um-" "What??" snapped Uncle Vernon who was angry about being bothered. "And you better have a good reason for disrupting me!" "Well," started Harry, "Can two of my friends come over for the summer?" He asked quickly. Once again Uncle Vernon started turning colors. "I didn't give you any work this summer because of those freaky friends of yours, and I let you keep that ruddy owl in your room, but THIS-" "But if you let them come over" said Harry "I won't get in your way for the whole summer-" "The WHOLE summer?" asked Uncle Vernon with a very ugly smile on his face. "Yup! And if you don't let them come, I'll make sure this will be the worst summer of your life." Said Harry who was happy his threat was working. "FINE! FINE! THEY CAN COME!" Uncle Vernon yelled. "THEY ARE TO USE AUNT MARGE'S BEDROOM, AND IF I HEAR ONE LITTLE PEEP, I'LL MAKE SURE THIS WILL BE THE WORST SUMMER OF YOUR LIFE!!  
  
Then, Harry quickly ran to his room, not even giving Vernon a chance to change his mind and wrote letters to Ron, Hermione, Lupin and the crowd. To Ron and Hermione he wrote invitations to his house, and to the others, just to confirm that he was okay and that Ron and Hermione might be coming over. Since Hedwig wasn't back yet to take the letters, Harry spent the rest of the day organizing his stuff and going through his homework. Finally, when it was dark already, Hedwig came back with answers from his previous letters. The one from Ron said:  
  
Dear Harry, Hi how are you? Wow, they chose you as Quiddich Captain! You're so lucky. For sure I'm still going to be keeper, you crazy? I can't believe it. Malfoy sending you a howler, I mean. Do you really think he's going to punish you? And Dudley under the table, I wish I could've seen that. Dad didn't hear any news about You-Know-Who except about the death-eaters who were put in Azkaban. I'm really bored and I wish I could see you. We're not doing anything for the summer because we're going to help Fred and George open they're store. Mom's really proud of them that they opened they're own store. And look at the bright side - we get free junk and jokes all the time. Well, if we don't see each other, then I hope we can go get our books at the same time. Missing you much,  
Ron  
  
Then Harry quickly ripped open the letter from Hermione which read:  
  
Dear Harry, How are you doing? I'm so happy for you that they chose you as Quiddich Captain. You're probably very pleased too. I don't think I'll try out for Quiddich. I'd rather stick to my books. Oh my Gosh, Harry! You have to tell Dumbledore about the Howler immediately! Malfoy might be planning to do something dreadful. Yes, I finished all my homework and I'd be glad to help you in my letters, though it would be easier if I could see you. I really miss you and I think it seems depressing that the Dursleys ignore you. My parents decided that we should just stay home for the holidays since my parents just became really famous dentists because of this millionaire that came to get fillings. So now they have to work really hard if the want to keep it going. I really hope I can meet you and Ron in Diagon Alley. Miss you,  
Hermione  
  
After reading the letters, he quickly put them aside and gave Hedwig the letters he wrote that day. "Sorry girl," said Harry when he tied the letters to her leg. "You have to go again and give these to Ron, Hermione, and Lupin. When you give Ron and Hermione the letters, stay there until they give you answers to the letters." She hooted, as if saying okay. "Uncle Vernon let them come for the summer." He explained. She seemed to see that Harry was very pleased about the ability to invite his two friends and therefore decided that she might as well take the letters. She lightly bit his ear and flew out the window.  
  
Then, after watching Hedwig till she disappeared into the black sky, Harry changed into his pajamas and got into bed. He was thinking about Ron and Hermione's letters. Hermione's reaction to Malfoy's letter was so typical- Hermione. "Tell Dumbledore." Then, Harry thought, "Should I really tell Dumbledore? Malfoy might want to do something really bad. or dreadful, as Hermione said.... But maybe he just wants to get me scared... Yeah, that's it, he just wants to scare me!" And with that thought in his head Harry fell into a deep slumber.  
  
Harry was walking down a glass staircase. It was going on and on. Every step he got closer, his scar would hurt more and more. When Harry reached the end of the staircase, his scar hurt so badly that he couldn't see what lay before him. He felt like his head was about to split open.  
  
Suddenly, Harry sat up in bed, drenched in cold sweat. "That was a very scary dream" he thought. "I wonder what that staircase was and why my scar hurt. Does it have anything to do with Voldemort?" Since Harry was so tired, he was able to fall back into a dreamless sleep until the morning.  
  
Chapter Two:  
The next morning, Harry woke up to find that Hedwig had already returned and there were three letters on his desk. As he was getting out of his bed, Harry didn't think anything about the dream but neither did he forget about it. He went over t his desk, said "Good morning, Hedwig.", and started opening the letters. The first letter was from Hermione who had written:  
  
Dear Harry,  
Of course I'll come! How could I miss this opportunity? I really can't believe that the Dursleys let you invite us, though. They seem so mean. Since my parents are working, I'm really bored all the time, so I'd be glad to come. They said that if I plan to stay at your place for the whole summer, they can pick us three one day so that we can get our school stuff. My father will bring me to your place in two days, on Saturday at noon. I hope Ron could come too,  
Hermione  
  
Harry was really glad Hermione could come. Even if Ron couldn't come, at least he won't be bored for the rest of the summer. But hoping that he would have both his friends over, Harry quickly opened the next letter, which was from Lupin.  
  
Dear Harry,  
Hey, how are you doing? We were about to come over to you. You didn't write for three days and we were getting worried. It's great that Ron and Hermione are able to come and stay by you. It's probably Moody's eye that did it, huh? He got that muggle really scared. Well, hope you have a great summer and write to us if anything comes up. If we don't hear from you for three days, we'll come get you.  
Lupin, Moody, Tonks, and Shacklebolt  
  
Harry put down the letter and then realized that the last letter must be from Ron. His stomach churned. He was afraid Ron wouldn't be able to come. He slowly opened the letter.  
  
Dear Harry I'm coming! I really can't wait! How did your uncle let you invite us, anyway? I thought you said they were terrible. Mum didn't really want to let me go, since Ginny will be the only one left in the house if I do. She wanted you to come to our place- it's very empty. But I persuaded her to let me come, so I'll be arriving on Saturday. I hope Hermione could come too.  
Ron  
  
Harry was so happy that he jumped for joy. Two of his best friends were coming to stay at his house for the summer, the Dursleys were not mean to him, and he had Lupin and the others just incase something happened. What else can he wish for? He noted that Ron and Hermione were both arriving on Saturday, so he started preparing his room before he went to breakfast. He also realized that Ron hadn't said how he was arriving and secretly hoped that Ron won't come by floo powder.  
  
As Harry was heading for breakfast, he couldn't help thinking how much fun he would have with his friends. As he sat down at the table, Uncle Vernon said gruffly, "So, when are those freaky friends of yours coming? I hope they don't wreck my living room again." Harry saw that clearly, his uncle hadn't forgotten what had happened the last time the Weaslys came by floo powder. Dudley's tongue grew about four feet (Fred and George were there) and the living room was ruined.  
  
"Ron and Hermione are coming on Saturday," said Harry "And they are not going to wreck your living room" "What kind of weird names are Ron and Hemonany?" Asked Uncle Vernon "Do all of your lot have bizarre names? Or is it just you and your friends? Harry could see that Vernon was really trying to annoy him so he said innocently "What kind of 'bizarre' name is Dudley?" Dudley jumped in his seat, and once again Vernon turned colors. "How dare you say that about my son's name???" Roared Uncle Vernon "You know what? I hereby prohibit you from bringing your friends!! "Uh, uh, uh!" said Harry in a sing song voice as he reached for his wand, just to threat his uncle. Uncle Vernon saw where Harry's hand was reaching and he quickly became pale. "You better not take that, that, thingy out. You know that you're not aloud to use it." Vernon said worryingly." J-just just go to your room and s-stay there." When Vernon said this, Harry had the urge to say "make me", but he decided he had better not get into complications with Vernon.  
  
So Harry just got up from the table and went to his room, where he sat organizing and anticipating Saturday. Then he went down stairs to Aunt Marge's room which he tried to fix up so that it looked like a normal girl's room. At night, after a whole day of working, Harry retired and went to bed. He had a dreamless sleep, and woke up the next morning, trying to remember what had happened the day before. Oh yeah! Ron and Hermione are coming tomorrow! How could I forget?. That thought made him so happy, that he supposed that nothing would bother him that day. But, he spent the rest of that uneventful Friday, doing nothing and waiting for the next day. That night he just couldn't fall asleep. He was twisting and turning and was worrying that the summer won't go right. What if the Dursleys annoy my friends? What if something terrible happens? But he assured himself by thinking that for sure, Ron and Hermione would never betray him, and that if anything went wrong, Lupin and the others were bound to help him.  
  
Chapter Three: The next morning Harry woke up to the sound of Hedwig, who had just returned from her hunting, with butterflies in his stomach. He was so happy that the awaited day had finally arrived, that he nearly forgot to put on his glasses. He was already at the stairs and already dressed before he realized he couldn't see well. He sat down for breakfast and realized that Dudley looked red in the face as if he was sort of angry. Harry knew that Vernon had told him that Harry's friends were coming and probably that he can't bother them. None of the Dursleys said anything through breakfast and through the rest of the day, which Harry spent waiting in his room, and later, on the bottom stair. Harry was sure everything was ready. His room had two beds in it, one for him and one for Ron; Aunt Marge's room looked pretty normal, and he had fixed the broken leg of a bed for Hermione.  
  
It was just when his watch beeped noon (it beeped every hour), that he heard a car stop by the house. He quickly jumped up and ran to the window. But to his despair he saw that it was just the next door neighbors. He waited a few more minutes, anxiously straining his ears for any sound. Then, he ran to the window again when heard the faint sound of a car, and when he looked out, he saw the back door of a BMW opening up. He quickly ran out the door to see Hermione emerging fro the car, and a man who seemed to be her father walking to the trunk. Hermione was very pretty now. Her bushy brown hair was bushy no more and had a few highlights to it; she had a slim figure and she had grown pretty tall. Right when Hermione noticed Harry standing there, she ran to him and hugged him. "I missed you so much!" she said "I was so happy my parents let me come"  
"Me too," He said" And I'll take that." he offered as Hermione tried bringing her suitcase to the door.  
"Thanks!" she said and went to give her father a good-bye kiss and hug. She came back to Harry and he brought her in.  
"No offense Hermione," He groaned under the weight of her suitcase. "But what do you have in here, all your Hogwarts books or something?"  
"Yes, Harry." She answered "So that I can get some reading and help you with your homework. But, if it's too heavy, Wingardium Leviosa. And with a swish of her wand, the suitcase flew out of Harry's hand and landed gently on the floor by the wall.  
"Hermione, we're not allowed to do magic!" Harry exclaimed "You'll get expelled!"  
"Did you forget, Harry? She asked, amazed "We just finished our fifth year. We're allowed to. And anyways, they can't expel me after the grades I got."  
"Would you like something to drink, Hermione?" Harry asked as they walked into the kitchen.  
"Okay. And where are the Dursleys?" Hermione inquired as she sat down. "I wanted to see what your Aunt Petunia looked like. She seems pretty nice"  
"NICE? Are you crazy? She's the worst muggle I ever met, after Vernon and Dudley, I mean." Harry cried as he served Hermione her drink. And they're probably upstairs or something. They don't want to see my "freaky little friends."  
"Oh, and did Ron arrive yet? He wrote to me that he'll be coming today also." She asked after she took a sip of her orange juice.  
"No not yet." Said Harry just has a loud BANG emerged from the living room. "But I think he just did." He concluded with a worried expression as he ran to the living room from where he heard Ron's voice yelling "Get me out of here!" and banging on the barrier that was blocking the fireplace.  
"Oh, my," sighed Hermione to no one in particular just before following Harry to the living room. Harry was already shouting to Ron to stoop yelling so that the Dursleys won't hear him. When Ron quieted down Harry opened the barrier with Alohamora and he saw a very tall Ron who was covered in soot. "Hey mate" said Harry "Glad you could make it."  
"Me too, Harry" answered Ron as he came out of the fireplace with his worn out suitcase and trunk. "Dad connected your fireplace to the Floo system and I still don't get why they block their fireplace!"  
"Ron, it's electrical." said Harry just as Hermione walked into the living room and saw Ron there covered in soot. Ron saw Hermione and goggled at her.  
"Hi, er, Hermione." Ron stuttered as his ears were growing red. "Y- you've um, ch-changed.  
"Ron, hi!" Said Hermione with the same expression on her face, just her ears weren't red, her cheeks were. "You're a m-mess!" The whole time, Harry was looking from one nervous friend to the other, with a grin on his face. He knew those looks.  
"Well, come and I'll show you where you'll be sleeping." He said, breaking the silence as he led them out of the living room.  
They had just reached Hermione's room, which was on the first floor when she cried "Wait!" and ran back to the living room. Ron and Harry followed her and found that she was just fixing up the blasted fireplace with a Reparo charm. "We don't want the Dursleys to chuck all three of us out of the house, do we?" she chuckled as the left the room again.  
"Good going Hermione," said Harry. "I don't know what Vernon would have done if he saw that mess. Well this is your room. I hope you find my redecorating comfortable enough. "And then he went over to Hermione's suitcase and brought it to her room with a groan.  
"Thank you, Harry" said Hermione with a smile as she went into the room. "It's wonderful!"  
"I'm glad you like it." said Harry. "Now, Ron, let me show you to your room."  
"Okay Harry, I'll be sleeping with you, I suppose." Said Ron as Harry led him upstairs to his bedroom. When they came into the room, to where Harry had brought in another bed from Aunt Marge's room, Ron said, "Wow Harry you're room is so big and comfortable looking. It didn't look like this when Fred, George, and I came to rescue you in our second year. And speaking of Fred and George, they sent you a greeting and-" Ron rummaged in his shabby suitcase which was on the floor and took out a large parcel that looked like it was very overstuffed. "-this."  
  
"Oh, thank you!" Harry said as he opened it. "I'll write them a letter later." Inside the package was a variety of all the sweets Harry could the think of. He saw the old ones: Chocolate Frogs and Bertie Bott's Beans; but he also saw The Weasleys' Portable Swamp, Extendable Ears, Puking Pastilles, Fainting Fancies, Nosebleed Nougats, and many other items that Harry could see were the twins' new inventions. There were these pieces of chalk that could draw on the air and cold only be erased if you eat the drawing, gumdrops that made you crack like a frog for half an hour after you plop them in your mouth, and many, many other mischievous and delicious jokes that Harry was dying to taste. "Oh, wow!" exclaimed Harry, as he offered the parcel to Ron and then closed it. "I can't believe it! They probably made a fortune with this stuff."  
  
"They do," Ron answered. "And one day when Ginny and I were helping them out since their worker got sick from eating to much junk, Malfoy suddenly walked in with a curious expression on his face. Right when he saw us four, he did a double take, which made him look very surprised and stupid. We all started laughing and he sneered at us, 'Your family is so poor that your parents got you to do a dirty job and sell all this rubbish, huh?' He said, picking up a Sodisweet sample. That's a type of candy that explodes in your stomach. It's quite harmless, though it can burn a hole in your hand if you hold it for too long. 'All this stuff must be junk from your broken down hovel, given that you'd never have even a pound to pay for this stuff!' But Fred grinned at George and said to Malfoy, 'Watch your mouth, Malfoy! But, you know, I'd be watching your hand now, instead of criticizing other people for things that you don't have.' Malfoy smirked, 'Very funny, Weasley. As if I'd ever dream to have all this garbage! And of course, Potter gave you all the money to get this trash. He pities you, for you are so poor and pathetic that he needs to give you money in order to save you.' George was really grinning now. He looked at Malfoy and said, 'You idiot, I don't think it's us who need the money now, I think it's you who needs to go patch up your arm.' This time, Malfoy did look at his arm and immediately his face looked so scared that we thought he would faint on the spot, because while he had been criticizing us, the Sodisweet had burnt a hole in his hand. Fred didn't bother telling him that it would only last for an hour since the fact of seeing Malfoy look like that was not something you see every day, and we didn't mind laughing at him. But he just mumbled something with the word 'father' in it and ran out."  
  
"No wonder he sent me a howler!" Said Harry after he laughed about Ron's story. "He was mad at me for giving the twins my winnings!"  
"Oh yeah, Harry! Do you have the howler?" Asked Ron, but added after a thought, "Actually, you wouldn't have it. It probably ripped itself to pieces."  
"Very oddly, it didn't! Said Harry, "Let me get it." Just as Harry was rummaging through his pocket, there was a knock on the door and Hermione walked in.  
"Hey, I finished packing." She said as she looked around the room Harry and Ron would be sharing "Should I whip up something to eat? I know how to make my mother's special homemade pizza and then add a few magical touches to it."  
"Thanks, Hermione." Harry and Ron said. They headed down to the kitchen and the Howler was forgotten.  
  
While they were eating their delicious lunch, Dudley came in to the kitchen. He was heading hungrily to the fridge, oblivions to his surroundings. And as he turned around and saw the three friends sitting around the kitchen table he looked scared for a second but then tried to make up for it he said "So, you finally found some freaky friends from that messed up school of yours to spend your summer with?" He said, trying to act brave, pressing himself against the wall so that his fat bottom wouldn't be a target again. "You better treat me well and not ruin my summer or else I'll tell Dad on you!"  
"Dudley," threatened Harry "I think you have to treat us well, because my friend over here," he jerked his finger at Hermione, "Can you give you some large pink ears to match that pig tail you once had, so watch it."  
Dudley was about to retort, but Aunt Petunia's voice was heard from upstairs, "Pumpkin! Come here, Mommy wants you!"  
"Bye Pumpkin!" Snickered Harry as Dudley stomped out of the kitchen. "See? That's what I've lived with for fifteen years". Said Harry, turning back to his friends.  
"But Harry, it seems like you can handle him." Said Ron. "He looks pretty much like a fraidy-cat to me."  
"And of course you don't REALLY curse him, right Harry? Asked Hermione, worryingly.  
"Don't worry, Hermione. I don't really curse him, just threaten him." Answered Harry "But I wish I could, though."  
  
They finished eating, Hermione went up to help Ron unpack ("If I don't do it for you, you'll never find your things"), and then the three caught up with things: about Malfoy's howler, the Order of the Phoenix, and about most of the things that had happened since the start of vacation. They finished all the homework they had, with the help of Hermione, introduced themselves to Uncle Vernon when he came back from work, with a reply of "Humph" from him, and by the end of the day, felt pretty worn out. Harry didn't mention anything about Hermione to Ron the whole day, and when he was finally in bed, thought about how lucky he was to have his two best friends stay by him for the summer.  
  
Chapter Four: Early the next morning, at a breakfast of eggs and bacon without the Dursleys, the trio was planning what they could do that day and through the whole summer. Just when Hermione suggested that they could go to the swimming pool nearby, a loud whistling sound was heard and they saw two tawny owls carrying a large trunk flying through the kitchen table and landing with a thump on the table right next to Harry, knocking over the jug of pumpkin juice that Hermione had made. The three jumped back from the table so as not to get wet, and looked curiously at the two owls and at the trunk. When the owls had rested for a second or two, one of them dropped a letter in front of Harry both flew out the window and up to the light blue sky. Nobody said anything for a moment and then Hermione said' "Open it, Harry. It seems to be for you, and I'm very curious to see what's inside the trunk." Said Hermione anxiously "Me too, Harry!" added Ron, "Just do it quick because I'm about to die of curiosity." "Alright, Alright!" Harry chuckled, but he, for sure, was not less curious than Ron and Hermione. "I'll open it." He slowly pulled up the latch on the trunk, which he now noticed, was VERY large, and opened it up.  
At first he thought it was just a trunk full of junk, but when he looked a bit longer, he saw many items that looked very old, and that were very dusty. The three all said "wow" at the same time and started taking out things. Harry took out an old magical chessboard that had its players stuck on to it, and it seemed to be a miracle that none of them broke inside the trunk. "Harry! Wow!" said Ron with awe. "That's a really rare chessboard! It's made so that instead of the pieces breaking to pieces when they get eaten, they disappear till the end of the game, and the pieces can never break. They don't make those anymore, though." He added as he took out a large sack of Gobstones. The sack they were in was made of thick velvet, but it was transparent! He handed the sack to Harry, who put down the chessboard, took out a few Gobstones out of the sack and studied them carefully. They seemed to be made of crystal and were so colorful that Harry could hardly look at them without squinting. When Hermione lifted a very dusty book out of the trunk, she gasped. "Harry! This book is worth a fortune! I've been tying to get my hands on a copy of it for ages! They don't have one in the school library, and I asked Madam Pince why, and she said it was very rare, and that Dumbledore even tried to find a copy of it and there were none to found!" "What's it about, Hermione?" Asked Harry, who was curios about what she was talking about. "Yeah, Why is it so rare and worth so much?" Inquired Ron "Well," started Hermione, "Long time ago, Godric Gryffindor wrote a book. He wanted it to go on and on to all the known wizards and witches through out history. He wrote about many of the things needed in the wizard world. The book tells about the good and bad times each the author was in, and how all the evil people and things were defeated. About how simple spells were made into very strong and helpful spells, and about how a wizard can become stronger inside himself, in his soul. I've been trying to get that book forever, and I thought it would probably be very helpful for you, Harry to defeat.V-voldemort." The last word was pronounced very carefully, even though she'd already said Voldemort once. When Hermione finished explaining what the book was about, both Harry and Ron were looking at her with wide eyes and open mouths. Harry spoke first. "Where do you think this book is from?" His eyes looked around the table and he spotted the letter which he'd forgotten about because he was so intrigued with all the things in the box. Before Ron or Hermione could answer, he picked up the letter, unfolded it, and started reading out loud:  
  
Dear Harry, Hello, How are you? Did Ron and Hermione arrive yet? If they did, how are they and are you having a good time? Because if you say you're not, I think we'll come over and teach that oaf of a muggle of yours a lesson. Well, you're probably wondering what all the junk in the chest is, right? It's hard for me to say this, but Sirius was planning to give it to you before he, well, he was planning to give it to you. He found the trunk in the attic of his parents' house, one day last year, and found that it was full of your parents' old stuff. He wanted to give it to you when you came back from school, but that was sort of impossible. So I found it yesterday, and decided you would probably like to look through the stuff and maybe find uses for some of it, since you might not have anything to do, even though Hermione and Ron are by you. But I don't really remember when I was your age, but who knows? Well, do whatever you want with it, I just thought you might want to look through it. Have a great summer, and give us a call if you need something, ok?  
Remus L.  
  
Harry realized that the whole letter was scattered with dry tears, especially where it spoke about Sirius. Harry himself was near tears, and when he looked up at his friends, he saw Hermione's eyes shining and Ron red in the face. While Harry had been reading the letter, Hermione had rummaged through the box. She wiped her eyes and said, "I'm so sorry, Harry, that he had to remind you. But I found something that might lift your spirits." Harry looked up at her as she took out a dusty and frayed album from the trunk. She handed it to him, and he opened it up as Ron came over and peered over Harry's shoulder. The first thing Harry saw when he opened up the book was a picture of two people whom he recognized to be his parents. In fact, as he leafed through the album, he saw that the whole album contained pictures of his parents with friends, family, and many with and of himself as a baby. Now Hermione was looking over his other shoulder, and without realizing it, they had all sat down by the table and went through the album very slowly.  
  
As they neared the end of the album, Aunt Petunia came into the kitchen, probably to prepare breakfast, as it was already 9:30. She stopped in her tracks as she saw the table. It was a very big mess, compared to the spotless table that she usually saw every morning. Of course, it was full of leftovers from breakfast, dust, and a lot of it, the ripped envelope that once had the letter from Lupin, and all the dusty items that they had already managed to take out of the chest, which also added a mess to the table. She opened her mouth, closed it, and then opened it again and yelled, "I don't know how your uncle allowed two of your freaky friends stay by my house, and I completely don't agree to it, but if you wreck and dirty my house with your foolish nonsense, I don't care what your uncle says, and you will be OUT!"  
  
The three friends jumped up, and without a word, Hermione took all the dishes to the sink and threw away all the garbage, while Harry and Ron dumped all the bits and pieces that they had taken out of the trunk, inside of it. Hermione quickly wiped the dust that had accumulated off the table, and with all of their strength, the three took the trunk up to Harry's room. As they were huffing and puffing up the stairs, Hermione turned to Harry. "You know, you were right about her being really mean. I didn't see it before. I really can't believe that she would kick you out of the kitchen when you're eating breakfast.  
"Well then, now you have an even greater example of what I've been living with for all these years." Answered Harry, who received looks of pity from both his friends, right when they reached the second floor landing. They walked into Harry's room, Harry threw a few things off the bed with his empty hand, and they rather happily, dropped the trunk on the bed.  
"That chess board looked-" started Ron, as he sat at the edge of the bed, but he was cut off by Hermione. "Let's continue looking through the pictures." She suggested to Harry, giving Ron a reproachful look for talking about the chess board. She just knew that Harry was itching to look at the pictures. And she was right. All Harry wanted to do right now, was look through the pictures, one by one; he wasn't pretty much in the mood for chess. Once again, he opened the trunk, though this time he knew what was in it, and took out the album. As he flipped to the page where they had left off, he hardly realized that Hermione and Ron took out all the other things that they hadn't taken out yet. He just couldn't stop looking at the pictures. It seemed like the best present ever! He saw pictures of himself as a baby, scar-less and carefree; pictures with Sirius, a very young Lupin, Moody, and some other people who looked very familiar to Harry, though he couldn't put his finger on who they were.  
  
When Harry was done looking at the album, after quite a long time, Harry looked up at what his friends were up to. Hermione was reading another book that she had probably found in the trunk, though Harry couldn't see its name, and Ron was busy studying a king piece from the chess board, which was less than an inch away from his eye. When they both realized that Harry was watching they both looked up.  
  
"Oh! We found a few more books in the trunk, Harry." Said Hermione, closing her book. "They're really interesting, you know. You should read them, especially since one of them is Hogwarts a History and-" "Yeah, Harry." Said Ron, getting up from Harry's desk chair and coming over to the bed, where the trunk was. "And there was also a game of exploding snap where the cards are gold and silver, though I'm not sure if it's real or not-" "-A family tree, and a jewelry box, which I thought you might want to open." Said Hermione, as she unrolled a velvet material that Harry could see was the family tree. She handed it to him and then took a jewelry box made of china glass with colorful flowers and with golden edges out of the box. Harry took it from her very carefully and then the room was silent. He opened the box and a soft melody started to play. The three looked inside the box, and many different things met their eyes. There was gold and silver, diamonds and crystals, and many other things that Harry never knew about, especially since he thought his parents' possessions got destroyed along with the house. With his forefinger and thumb, Harry carefully lifted out a gold chain. As he held it up for his friends to see, he saw that it had a Gryffindor Lion medallion on it, which looked so real, Harry could swear it had something magical in it. He gave it to Hermione so that she could look at it, and took out the next piece of jewelry. It was a silver bracelet with ten little charms hanging on it. There was a wand, a cauldron, a broom and some other magical pieces of silver. For a few minutes the trio took out a lot more of the jewelry, "ooing" and "ahing" over almost everything. When Harry put his hand into the bow to take out the last piece of jewelry, he gasped and nearly dropped the box. "What's wrong, Harry?" Hermione asked worriedly, but when she looked to see what had made Harry react so strongly, her jaw dropped open. Then Ron came over to see what was so special, and he almost fell off the bed.  
  
On a red - wine colored velvet pouch, lay the most beautiful piece of jewelry Harry had ever seen. It was a ring, but not just a ring. On top of a gold band, was a large, or rather the largest diamond Harry had ever seen. It was oval shaped and very colorful, and was surrounded by many small diamonds, where emerging from in between every one of these tiny diamonds, was a green, and long vine. The vines all had golden leaves on them, and though they looked real and flexible, they were hard.  
  
Harry carefully pulled the ring out of the jewelry box, and put it on his finger, to receive laughs from his two friends and himself. It was of course a girl's ring and he could never wear it. But there was someone who could try it on.  
  
"Try it on, Hermione," he said as he took the amazing ring of his hand. "I would never see how it looks if I tried it on my hand." "Me?" Hermione trembled. "N-never, n-not me." "Of course you, Hermione." Said Harry, as he passed the ring to Ron who was closer to Hermione. "There is no one here who could put it on, other than you. And I would NEVER let my aunt wear it. In her dreams." He added.  
  
Ron took the ring from Harry and gently put it on Hermione's finger, which was trembling. Harry could see them both looking into each other's eyes and then going very red. He had a feeling something was going to happen between them very soon. When the ring was on her finger, Hermione held out her hand, so that they all should look at it. It was very gorgeous, even though it was slightly big on Hermione who had very long and thin fingers. There was a moment of silence, and Harry broke it.  
  
"Let's put everything back in the trunk and we can go somewhere. It's only one o'clock anyways." He suggested. His two friends agreed and as Hermione took the ring off her finger and Harry was about to put the photo album in the trunk, Ron yelled, "Wait! There's something in the trunk!" Harry looked inside the trunk and saw that indeed, there was something else in the trunk. It was an envelope, an envelope with many burn marks; some were so bad that they had pieced a whole through the envelope and through the letter inside it. Hermione saw the envelope, and said, "You have a very good eye, Ron. Luckily you saw it, or Harry would never have found it. It's probably very important." Ron's ears went pink. Harry took out the envelope, and opened it. He pulled out a single piece of parchment which was full of burn marks. It looked to Harry as if the letter was about to break to pieces in his hand; and what's more, Harry knew that with all the burn marks and the holes on the letter, he would have to guess a few parts of the letter. He very carefully brought the letter to his face, and read out loud:  
  
To whoever may find this letter: This trunk consists of many valuable and - items, that should never be - by enemies. In this trunk, there is a - called the - Beware, Voldemort wants it! It must NEVER be in the hands of - Voldemort or his - eaters. If so, - can come to an end. This special item is very - and should be kept in - It will - to anything or anyone. So be careful.  
Sincerely  
  
--- When Harry finished reading the frail warning, he reread it again to himself and then fell silent. Ron and Hermione too, were very silent. Ron was the first to speak.  
  
"Voldemort wants the ring." He said as he breathed heavily, for the fact that his best friend owned something that the greatest evil sorcerer in the world wanted, was just to frightening to think about. "It must have some very magical powers."  
  
Harry, not able to speak yet just nodded, and Hermione voiced her opinion. "I've read that some rare pieces of jewelry were made into evil and righteous powers three times in our history. So Voldemort might be able to make something terrible out of the ring, but maybe you, Harry can save the world once again. Not that I want you to get yourself in danger." She added hastily.  
  
When Harry found his tongue, he looked at the letter again, and said, "I agree with both of you, and if the ring is as powerful as we think, we have to hide it immediately. It says here," he consulted the letter, "'should be kept in-' and then there's a hole." He looked at his friends and asked, "Where do you think it should be kept?"  
  
Hermione thought for a moment and then said, very slowly, "We could ask-" "No, Hermione, we are NOT asking Dumbledore! Every time you want us to go tattle-tale, we end up loosing all the fun!" Ron interrupted. But ashamed of his sudden retort at Hermione, his ears quickly turned red.  
  
Slightly grinning, Harry took Ron's side. He was sure he didn't want to tell Dumbledore. "I don't want to be rude to you or to Dumbledore, but if we show it to Dumbledore, he'll take it and hide it somewhere in the castle, and somehow, Voldemort always finds out where. I think it's really cool that I own something Voldemort wants and I don't want to risk our lives again by trying to save something form him. So let's just keep it between ourselves. Agreed?"  
  
When Hermione and Ron nodded, Hermione looking a bit wistful, Harry asked "So do you have any ideas to where we should keep it?"  
  
Ron and Hermione thought for a second, and then Ron suggested, "We could keep it in Gringotts. If we keep this stone between ourselves, You-Know-Who would never know where we put it, and I don't think he would even bother breaking into Gringotts."  
  
It seemed as if Hermione thought that idea as an excellent one. "Perfect, Ron!" She exclaimed. "And we'll keep it in a high-security vault like where the Sorcerers Stone used to be kept, and I don't think we'll have any problems. Unless, Harry, you'll need it during the year."  
  
But Harry shook his head, and the three agreed on the idea.  
  
Suddenly, Hermione spoke up. "Did you know Harry that really, we're not supposed to do magic till the end of our sixth year?" Harry gaped at her. "But you told me - When you arrived - You did a spell - So how come we weren't expelled when we did magic?" He stuttered. "Before we left the school," Hermione explained, "Dumbledore told me, that because Voldemort is on the loose, only we three are aloud to do magic over the holidays. He arranged it with the ministry so that even if we didn't do magic for self-defense, they won't send us a letter. And you know how you tend to, er, get us into trouble with Voldemort. We always need to be able to perform spells just in case something unexpected happens. You remember the dementors last year, don't you?  
  
"I guess Dumbledore thinks of everything, huh?" Replied Harry, as he looked at his watch. "And we still have half the day ahead of us, so what should we do?" "Maybe we could play Quiddich." Hermione said with a glint in her eyes. "Or maybe I should watch you two playing. How does that sound?" "Hermione, what do you have up your sleeve?" Ron asked suspiciously. "Yeah, Hermione!" Chorused Harry. "You know we can't play Quiddich!" "Why not?" Hermione asked, not keen on getting out her plan so quickly.  
  
"Well," started Harry "We don't have where to play, as we're stuck here by the Dursleys, we don't have a way to play, because you won't play and it's only Ron and I here, and anyways, I only have one broom! Is that a good enough reason for you?"  
  
But Hermione had other ideas in head. "As for where to play, well, since we can do magic, I could just put a spell on the roof so that no one will see us playing there, and since only you and Ron are here, I guess you could just practice, and not play a whole game, and I know you only have one broom, and so, well, my parents thought I wanted a broom for my birthday. They wanted to get me something other than a book, as usual. And so they bought me a Firebolt, and since I didn't want to hurt their feelings, I kept it, and you can borrow it if you want to." She said with her smile growing bigger and bigger.  
  
Both Ron and Harry gaped at her. They were shocked. Ron couldn't wait to ride a Firebolt again, and Harry was dying to ride on a broom before he went back to school for a full year of Quiddich. "You mean there's a spell we could use so that no one will see us or the broomsticks?" Ron asked, still too shocked to believe what Hermione had said. "And you have a broomstick?" Harry asked, in the same state as Ron. "Yes, Ron," said Hermione, "but you have to really be careful. I can make a certain sized boundary around the roof and if you go through it, it might break. If it breaks, the whole boundary disappears, and then anyone can see you on broomsticks up in the air." "Fine, fine, we'll be careful. Can we play already?" interrupted Ron, waiting to start playing already. "But Hermione, don't we have to check with someone before doing it?" Asked Harry. He didn't understand why Hermione was suggesting something so dangerous and exciting. It wasn't really up to her standards.  
"Fine, you don't have to play if you don't want to." Hermione declared. She was for once trying to be carefree around them and they didn't even appreciate it. Boys!  
"Okay, okay, Hermione. We'll play!" Said both Harry and Ron in unison. So although the two boys were very curious to as why Hermione was acting this way, they forgot about their suspicions and rushed outside with Hermione, who already had hers and Harry's broom. Before they reached the door, though, Ron stopped.  
"Wait! Go outside and don't wait for me." He said as he headed back to the room, "Mum said I have to write to her every two or three days but I've forgotten to lately, and she'll become worried. You know how worried Mum can become." And as he walked into the room, the two others heard him sit down on the rolling chair and say to himself "What a pain!"  
"Well, I guess we should go outside to set up the boundary," said Hermione.  
"And I'll start getting a hang of riding a br- Hey! How did you find my broom?" inquired Harry, noticing his Nimbus in Hermione's hand while they were walking to the yard behind the house.  
"Hermione looked at him and grinned. "I have my ways," she said mysteriously. Anyway, how hard is it to open up your trunk and take your broomstick? Otherwise, as forgetful as you are, you probably would have forgotten your broom.  
When they had reached the back of the house, both Harry and Hermione looked up. "Harry, we have to go up on broomsticks and check about how large the roof is, and then I can perform the spell. But we have to do it really carefully. If anyone sees us, we're in real trouble. We have to make sure to stay hidden behind your uncle's house, or else anybody walking on the sidewalk could see us." Said Hermione, as she got on her broom. "You know, I never understood why we had to learn how to get a broom to come to us in our first Quidditch class. I'd rather pick it off the ground."  
Yup, this was the same Hermione al right, Harry thought. Annoyed about something she couldn't quite do or learn in a book. He got his broom from the ground where Hermione had placed it, and on the count of three, they both soared up. While Hermione struggled on her broom, Harry flew like an eagle. Oh, it felt as if he hadn't been on a broom for ages, ever since that foul Umbridge woman had banned him from Quidditch. As he did a few loop da loops in the air and soared at a neck breaking speed, the whole time making sure he didn't go higher than the roof of the house, Harry's thought's wandered to his last year at Hogwarts. He thought about all that had happened that year, and just before his mind drifted to the Dark Arts group they had had that year, Hermione called him down.  
"Harry, come here! I need a hand!" He turned around to see Hermione up in the air, with a wand held out in front of the roof, and the roof looking very magical. Harry flew a few feet to Hermione, and she asked, "Do you have your wand with you?"  
"Roger!" said Harry, as he took his wand out of his back pocket and showed it to Hermione. She lifted one eyebrow but didn't say anything.  
"I need you to help me make a rectangle around the house and then cube it so that we also have a certain height we can reach. I already surrounded half of the roof and I want you to connect your line to my line, and from here finish making a rectangle around the roof. The spell is Sontiklavia." She said, as she showed Harry the lines she had made. They were light orange and had a tinge of green in them.  
While hovering about thirty feet up in the air, Harry gripped his broom with his left hand, held out the wand in his right hand, and shouted "Sontiklavia!"  
But while saying the spell, Harry lost his balance and sunk a few feet with his broom, sending the spell to a tree in the next door neighbor's back lawn. The tree glowed magically, the leaves rustled, and Harry and Hermione heard something fall to the ground on the Dursleys' property with a loud "Thump!"  
Harry and Hermione flew over to see what had fallen, and upon reaching the ground they jumped off their brooms and stared.  
To their amazement they saw a young boy getting up from the ground. He had his back to them and they heard him muttering while cleaning himself off, "One minute it was there, and the next minute it's not! How could that be?" He muttered something else but they didn't hear him. Hermione took a step towards the boy and said rather taken back, "Is something wrong?" The boy jumped and turned around. Harry could now see that he looked about ten or eleven years old. The boy had what Harry could see was a pair of Omnioculars around his neck, and he looked rather frightened to see Harry and Hermione there. He took a step back, nearly stumbling on the branches that had fallen off the tree when he had fallen. "What are you doing here?" the boy asked, trying to seem brave. "Was it you who made the bird in the tree disappear? Harry and Hermione looked at him as if he were crazy. Harry was thinking that if the boy had a pair of Omnioculars, he was a wizard, and that meant that there was a wizard family on this block! Hermione on the other hand, was trying to figure out why the boy was saying that the bird disappeared, instead of just saying it flew away. "Can you please explain what you mean?" asked Hermione at the same time that Harry said "Do you live here?" The boy was probably not afraid Harry and Hermione anymore, because he started to talk quite freely. "Well, my name is PeterOswald. Me My family and I my family moved to this block a few weeks ago. We live right there." He pointed to the house that was to the left of the Dursleys' house. "I like birds, and my father gave me these Omnioculars for my birthday, and I decided to-Wait! You're er, you know, magical, right?" He asked anxiously. "Yes," said Hermione, "So, what did you decide to do?" "Well, I decided to try bird watching in that tree. So I climbed up the tree, and while looking at a particularly interesting owl, a snowy-white one to be exact, the tree went sort of magical, and the bird disappeared like that! It didn't fly away, I'm telling you!" It was now that Harry noticed that PeterOswald had a weird accent, not really like the people from America spoke. Hermione looked at Harry and shook her hear. "You're so pathetic, Harry. You can't even aim a wand correctly." Before Harry could retort, the three of them heard someone from right next to the house yelling, "Harry! Hermione! Where are you? I finished writing my letter to Mum!" They all turned to see Ron running towards them, looking relieved. Ron was about to say something but he saw PeterOswald and stopped. "Who's he?" he asked, jerking his finger towards the young boy. "Ron! Where are your manners? Introduce yourself!" criticized Hermione. "Hermione, can it be that you and I haven't even introduced ourselves?" asked Harry, sticking up for Ron. Ron snickered. "Yeah, who are you? Where are you from?" Oswald asked. "Well, I'm Harry Potter," said Harry. "This is Hermione Granger, and this is Ron Weasley. " He pointed to Ron and Hermione. "We're all from, well, you know, around. "Harry Potter?" Oswald asked, but not exactly the way most people did. "You were in the news not long ago, something to do with Voldemort, and I think you were also in some book my mother made me read." Ron flinched at the sound of Voldemort's name, not strongly though, and Harry gawked. "You said the name. You're one of the few people who do say it." "Huh?" asked Oswald looking confused. "What name?" "You said Voldemort's name." Answered Harry. "Most people are afraid to say it." "Why should I be afraid? That's how we say the name at home. And anyway, what should I say? 'You Know Who', like they write in books?" He teased. "No, not really...What's you full name anyway?" Harry asked. "Me? Oh, I'm Oswald Josh Pettigrew." Answered Oswald. The response to this was amazing. Hermione gasped and turned white, and took a step back. Along with her came Ron who's jaw had fallen. Harry stayed firm on the spot, though his eyes did pop out in shock. Oswald looked very frightened. "Is everything okay? Did I say something wrong? It seems to me like there's something wrong with my name." He said in a very panicky voice. "Pettigrew?" The three astonished friends asked in unison. "Well, yeah. Why? Am I famous?" he joked "Let's go sit in the shade," said Hermione. "Your last name turns out to be, well, a long story." "Okay," said the stunned boy, as he wiped the dirty kneecaps of his pants and wiped his sweaty blonde hair out of his eyes. He followed Harry Ron and Hermione to a tree nearer to the Dursely's house, though still in the back yard. They all slumped down by the tree trunk, in the shade of the large leaves, blocked by the hot summer sun. "First," started Harry, the first one to speak, "we need to know if you know anyone by the name of Peter Pettigrew. Any distant relative, anyone. "Well, it's funny that you mention him, because my parents were just telling me that I have an uncle name Peter Pettigrew, my mother's brother." Oswald frowned. "They told me that he was murdered long time ago by a murderer, I forgot his name, though I think it had Black in it." Harry gritted his teeth, and was about to say something but Hermione cut him off. "Did they tell you anything else?" Oswald squinted, probably trying to remember more. "I don't think so." He answered slowly, and then he asked, "Why are you asking me about him? Do you know him?" "Well, yes," Answered Harry. "kind of." He looked at Hermione with a questioning look asking 'Should we tell him?' When Hermione nodded, Harry said, "He's alive." "He was my rat." Ron interrupted, when Oswald opened his mouth to say something. Harry punched Ron in the ribs. Oswald grabbed the chance and said, in shock, "He's alive? But, but, my parents, they said -What do you mean he's alive? My parents don't lie to me!" He spluttered. But Hermione tried to calm him down. "Your parents didn't lie to you. She said, in what you would say was a calming voice. "They just didn't know. Only about 10 others know that he's alive." "So what about the Black guy?" asked Oswald, looking confused. This time Harry answered. "Everyone thinks he murdered your uncle, but, whatever. This 'Black guy' died last year. Harry did look pretty sad, so it seemed Oswald decided not to pursue the subject. Harry stared into space, thinking about Sirius. Why did he have to die? Out of all the people he knew, why did Voldemort have to kill the one Harry loved best? It was not until Harry snapped out of it that he realized he had been staring at Oswald. Oswald seemed very uncomfortable. "How old are you, anyway?" asked Harry, wondering. Oswald beamed. "I'm almost eleven. My birthday is in four days. I'm going to Hogwarts this year." Oswald seemed very proud of himself, but Hermione said, "Oh, your birthday!" and clapped her hand to her mouth. "What is it, Hermione?" asked both Harry and Ron in worry. Oswald just stared. Hermione was getting up. She said very oddly, "Nothing, I just forgot to do something. I have to go back in. You stay outside and play with Oscar, I mean, Oswald." She said, as if they were little kids. Before anyone can say anything, Hermione was gone. "What's with her?" asked Oswald. "It seems everything I say today is wrong. Did I say something weird?" He asked, as his eyebrows went up. "Not that I know of," said Harry. "She seemed weird to me too." "Yeah" agreed Ron. "So, what do we do?" Harry asked. "We can't fly because we don't have the boundary, and I forgot the spell." "Maybe Oswald has an idea." Said Ron. They looked at Oswald, but he suddenly looked at his watch and said, "Oh, no! I have to get home, now! My mother is going to get mad at me!" And with that he scrambled up, cleaned off all the dirt and grass that had accumulated on his clothes, said a quick, "Good bye, thanks!" and ran off. Ron just looked at Harry and shrugged. Both boys got up, and walked to the front of the house, and sat on the swing the Dursleys had just installed, though Harry didn't know who would sit on it. Both boys were quiet for a few moments, and then Ron broke the silence. "Harry, can I tell you something?" he asked, very quietly. "Okay," aid Harry, wondering what Ron would tell him, because it seemed very important. "Well," started Ron, his ears starting to redden. "I sort of, um, I-" "What?" asked Harry. He realized that Ron didn't exactly feel comfortable telling Harry whatever he wanted to tell him. "I," started Ron, and then he mumbled something so quietly that Harry was sure that it would take hours for Harry to hear what Ron wanted to tell him. "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to." Said Harry, gritting his teeth. "No, I'll tell you." Said Ron, his ears going very pink "Well, I, I like Hermione." He said it very quickly, and it took Harry a few moments to register what he had heard. "You like Hermione?" asked Harry, with a smile on his face. "That's it?" "Be quiet," shushed Ron. "Not so loud! She'll hear us!" But Harry continued. "For how long?" he asked. "What?" asked Ron, his head clearly not in the conversation. "When did you decide you liked her," Harry asked again, this time slower. "Well, when I saw her for the first time when I arrived at your house." Said Ron. "I thought I saw something weird going on between you two." Said Harry, grinning. "So, do you think..." started Ron. "Do I think what?" asked Harry, curious. "Do you think she likes me too?" asked Ron, very slowly. Baffled, Harry tried to answer him. What was he supposed to say? "I think so." He tried to sound convincing, but Ron didn't fall for it. "Well, what am I supposed to do?" asked Ron, getting up, and looking at Harry. "How will I know?" Harry got up, and walked around the yard with Ron, very slowly, both of them pondering. The sun was just setting, and its rays were turning orange-pinkish. It was beautiful, but neither boy was looking at it. For a few moments they were both quiet, and then Harry said, "Well, I think the only thing you can do is tell her, and hope she likes you back." "But what if she doesn't?" Ron asked in worry. "I won't be able to look at her in the face forever!" Harry was about to laugh, but held it. He remembered liking Cho and being afraid to tell her. He knew how it felt. "I don't think she'll hate you forever if she doesn't like you, as, as, in that way." Harry said, trying not to break up in fits of laughter. "And I think she does like you." "What makes you say that?" Ron asked, his hopes soaring. "Well, when you arrived, and she was like, 


End file.
